Early this morning, around 6:10AM, I was running a loop around Cleary Lake Park. For those of you who have been to Cleary Lake, you know how beautiful it is. Just as the sun was rising, I was seeing and hearing the birds, ducks, etc. getting ready for the day. Quite peaceful. I would say I was in a pretty good mood, but I was tired. After all, it is Monday morning, and running is always just plain hard work. About halfway through my loop, I saw an elderly man walking towards me on the trail. He looked to be probably in his mid 70s. As he approached me, he stopped, looked at me with the biggest smile, vivaciously shook my hand, and said “I really hope you have a great day! Today is going to be something special.” And just like that, he continued walking, and I continued running.
It kind of caught me a bit off guard, because I was listening to my music, mentally preparing for the work week, as well as simply trying to focus on running itself! But it really made a difference. Just a simple smile. A simple greeting. A simple moment of sharing a positive thought. It made me wonder, as we think about things through the eyes of a child, what an incredible difference we as educators can make. What an opportunity!